CED-1
by PainfulStitches17
Summary: "Dominic, why is your gadget called CED-1?" In which Jäger gets curious.


"Dominic, why is your gadget called CED-1 ?"

The man in question looked up from his laptop, his piercing gaze falling on the engineer before him. Both Elias and Monika, sat on the other side of the room, looked at them like all hell was about to break lose. Again.

"Why the fuck not ?"

"It's a long name for something so... Simple. Crude Electrical Device ? You could've just called it a battery, way easier." Jäger answered back.

"I've got my reasons." Bandit barked, a frown forming.

"So it's done on purpose ? Is the acronym supposed to be something else ?"

The oldest operator suddenly looked taken aback, like he hadn't expected Jäger to ever ask the question. The room fell silent, the youngest ones bracing themselves for impact.

"Actually, yeah, it does." Bandit finally said in his usual monotone voice.

"What is it ?" Jäger suddenly became excited.

"Fuck off, I'm not telling you." He started rubbing at the scar running across his scalp.

"Alright, give me a week, I'm sure I'll manage to find out."

The group was unsure which one of Monika or Elias laughed the hardest at the idea. After all, nobody knew for certain what was going on in Dominic's head.

He had asked nearly all of the operators on base, tried to recall anything Bandit could've said, begged both Ash and Doc to look at his file, _j_ust for a minute, Harry would never tell, he swore ! But...

Nothing, he was at a dead end.

The sun was setting on Hereford base, no matter how hard he tried to focus, he just couldn't. The small piece of paper with the inscription "CED-1" sat in front of him, taunting him, calling his name while he worked on the device in his hands. Jäger became almost certain this had turned into another one of Bandit's pranks, there was no way it meant anything else. He was fucking with him like so many times before.

He got up, ready to admit defeat. It was a week later and Monika was right, if a secret there was in this, Dominic was probably taking it right to his tomb. He picked up the piece of paper before making his way to the dorms, he needed a shower and he still had time before dinner. As he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of Bandit hard at work sewing shut a tear in his signature jacket, a pile of other several pieces of clothing at his side. He was the go to man when it came to fixing their belongings, Jäger himself would frequently ask him to help out, sewing had never been his forte, especially knots which Bandit was doing right now.

Before he could say anything, Bandit got up and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them.

"Here, put this on." He turned Jäger around, holding his jacket up in an attempt to make him wear it.

"Why ?"

"Because it's easier than trying to look at my back in the mirror. C'mon, hurry up."

Jäger put it on, the soft fabric felt nice, he got why it was Bandit's favorite. The jacket was being thoroughly inspected making sure nothing looked wonky. He seemed pleased, a small smile forming.

"Thanks." Bandit sat back down, picking up a top which looked like one of Monika's training shirts.

"I can't figure out your stupid acronym. Are you sure you're not just fucking with me Brunsmeier ?" Jäger didn't even realised he had kept the jacket on in his haste.

"Nope. Keep searching." He looked amused.

"Why are you smiling ?" All the while Jäger was getting annoyed.

"You're just closer to the answer than you think, is all."

God was this annoying. He was giving up, that was it, Bandit was doing it on purpose.

Before he could say anything else, Bandit left in a hurry as his phone started to ring, leaving Jäger frustrated and still wearing his clothes. Great.

He put down the piece of paper he had been holding on the lone desk.

"CED-1"

Closer than he thought ? Yeah, right. He removed the jacket, looking closely at the holes that had long since been patched, impeccable stitches running all around inside the fabric, some colored some not. He didn't get Bandit but this jacket looked closest to what must be going in his small head of his. As he was about to put it gently back down on the bed, something caught his eye. There were two tags. One read "Dominic Brunsmeier", clearly hand stitched to the side of the jacket. The other ? "Cedrick Brunsmeier", right at the neck. After a few seconds, it suddenly dawned on him.

Dominic was wearing his brother's jacket. His very much dead twin brother's jacket.

Why hadn't he thought about this before ? How could he had missed the possibility ? Bandit never mentioned him by name, ever, but it made sense.

He looked back at the paper sitting on the desk, picking up a pen and soon starting filling the blanks. The door opened back behind him.

"You were right, it was closer than I thought." Jäger handed him the paper.

"CEDr1ck"

Dominic smiled before looking at him again. "See ? You're a smart one Schnecke."

"Oh shut up." Jäger jokingly shoved him a bit.


End file.
